By definition, dispensers of this type are located in public places where they are liable to be subjected to acts of vandalism by those intent on stealing the cash stored in the dispensers, having regard to the relatively large sums of money which they contain. Dispensers are generally designed to resist such acts of vandalism, by their mechanical design and by the materials employed. This results in an overall structure which is of relatively imposing size and weight.
Apart from external attacks, in the form of acts of vandalism referred to above, such dispensers are also open to fraud, e.g., seeking to obtain the products or services for free, without inserting money and, instead, either temporarily blocking the apparatus from dropping coins inserted by a legitimate user or temporarily preventing the product from being dispensed, or by inserting counterfeit coins or objects which are adapted nevertheless to actuate the mechanism for delivery of the corresponding goods or services. Specific means are employed to thwart or try to thwart these maneuvers, particularly by fitting dispensers with systems for detecting counterfeit money or non-conforming objects and/or with means for protecting the central unit controlling the operating system of the dispenser.
Nevertheless, cases occur in which these fraudulent maneuvers effected from outside the dispenser allow triggering of the central unit under exceptional circumstances, leading to partial or total emptying of the coins contained in the dispenser, into the tray, accessible from the outside, where return of change is effected. In addition, exceptional circumstances, such as lightning for example, can possibly cause malfunctioning of the central unit, which then triggers return of money, emptying the dispenser completely. It is clear that such actions are financially extremely prejudicial to the operator.
Apart from attacks which can be inflicted on dispensers from the outside, the latter can also be subjected to fraudulent acts on the part of persons having access to the interior of the dispenser for maintenance or repair operations. These fraudulent acts are more difficult to avoid since the majority of known dispensers are designed in such a way that part or all of the money stored in the dispenser is exposed to the view of the maintenance or repair personnel, with the attendant risk of temptation. The risk is moreover higher in that the means provided to prevent physical access to the coins contained in the apparatus are more or less non-existent or are extremely rudimentary and relatively easy to circumvent. In particular, known dispensers allow access to the coins contained in the temporary coin storage means during the removal of these means in order to effect maintenance or repair operations. Even though the fraudulent act only affects some coins in the dispenser, it results in a non-negligible loss for the operator. Attempts have been made in known manner to deal with this by providing dispensers with extremely complex means which increase size, weight and above all cost, thereby reducing any benefit which results from the reduction in fraud.
It is, thus, important that the coins contained in the dispenser should not be visible and, more importantly, not accessible to personnel charged with maintenance and repairs, while they are performing operations of removing different parts contained in the dispenser. Known dispensers do not resolve this difficulty in a satisfactory way. In addition, known dispensers suffer from major inconveniences in terms of operation, whether from the point of view of the user or the operator. In this respect it will be useful to recall general operating principles of dispensers, especially of the means for handling the inserted coins.
A first type of known device has, in succession, a coin input unit for effecting pre-recognition of the inserted object. Its outlet is connected to a selector which sorts by value the coins recognized as such. The outlet of the selector is connected to a first channel leading to a tray opening outside the apparatus and to a second channel connected to a holding means, called pre-collection means. At the outlet of the selector, the coin is directed to the tray when the coin is not recognized as conforming, or the coin is directed to the pre-collection means when it is recognized as conforming. The pre-collection means is adapted to direct the coins either to the tray, on cancellation by the user, or to the permanent storage means (cash box) for coins, when a product or service has been issued to the user.
That known device is relatively rudimentary and, thus, has little in the way of operating facilities, in particular in the sense that it does not give any change. The user, therefore, has to have the exact sum corresponding to the dispensed product or service. This leads to a major limitation for the user and thus reduces the possibilities for application of this device.
A second type of dispenser is known which is adapted to give change without recycling the coins. That type of device is similar to the first type of device described above, except for the fact that it further comprises storage means in the form of a reserve of coins for giving change and opening into the tray via a change channel.
Although it increases the number of possible uses of dispensers, that second type of known device also suffers from a major disadvantage in that it requires the reserve to be filled up, which implies a large capital outlay. This refilling requires recourse to labor, which increases the cost of operating the apparatus and also increases the risk of fraud during the refilling of the reserve. In addition, within the operating schedule, the reserve is generally exhausted relatively rapidly, unless there is frequent refilling and/or a reserve of large capacity, which only aggravate the problems mentioned above.
A third type of known device, adapted to give change, has been designed with means allowing coins to be recycled. That third type of device comprises substantially the same components as the second type without recycling, with the exception that the holding stack (or a routing means) is adapted to direct the inserted coins either to the tray, to the cash box or to the temporary change storage means, these being called recycling dispensers and being adapted themselves to direct the inserted coins either to the cash box or to the tray with the aid of routing means.
The coins directed to the cash box at the outlet of the holding stack are those which are not suitable for recycling, for example the coins of higher value. Coins are also directed from the holding stack to the cash box when the recycling dispenser is full.
The recycling dispenser includes components for temporary storage of coins, classified by value. Recycling dispensers exist with a hopper outlet provided with an aperture at its bottom, facing which is a disk with recesses in the plane of the disk adapted to receive the said coins, which are thus removed. This has the disadvantage that the disk has to be changed with every change in coin type.
There also exist dispensers formed by an endless chain provided with individual recesses in each of which one coin is placed. That known type is relatively bulky. Such a dispenser is available from Coin Controls Limited of Royton, Oldham, United Kingdom under the name Universal Hopper.
Recycling dispensers are known comprising a series of vertical tubes in each of which one type of coin is disposed, or else a series of coaxially-aligned carrousels on an axis parallel to or perpendicular to the feed direction of the coins. The most common carrousel type is that in which the carrousels are located about a common vertical axis. Although that type of dispenser having a carrousel is advantageous in certain respects, it nevertheless has the major disadvantage of being complex and bulky, since the different carrousels are superimposed on one another and the more so with the addition of a supplementary carrousel, required for example because of the creation of a new type of coin, thereby increasing the total height of the change channel.
Recycling dispensers of known type with vertical tubes or carrousels have in common the disadvantage of allowing direct and unprotected visual and physical access to the change stored in the dispenser. Removal of the recycling dispenser and its various parts thus gives direct access to the stored change, with the resultant possibility of fraud.
Another problem with known recycling dispensers is related to the return of change in the case of overpayment by the user through insertion of a relatively large number of coins of small value (10 centimes for example), then finishing with a coin of high value (for example 10 francs), the user having realized that he does not have the full amount in 10 centime coins. It is necessary to give change to the user and the optimum solution consists in firstly giving back the user his own coins.
In this respect, it should be noted that the idea of giving change to a user relies on an important principle, namely that the change given to the user should consist mainly if not completely of the user's own coins, as far as is possible. This follows from a double objective. The first objective is to give the user his own coins back when his command is cancelled at the last moment. The second objective is to avoid storing counterfeit coins possibly inserted by a defrauder and giving the latter authentic coins over and above the product or service for the value in question. This would amount to the defrauder "laundering" the counterfeit money, with obvious resultant financial consequences for the operator. By way of example, consider a travel ticket of value one dollar and assume that the defrauder inserts $0.75 in counterfeit coins and an authentic $10 bill to complete the operation. If known devices are not able to detect the counterfeit money, they issue a ticket for one dollar and return an amount of $9 to the defrauder. In all the defrauder would have the benefit of a one dollar ticket acquired for $0.75 in counterfeit coins and $0.25 in authentic coins.
The above example will be taken up again, namely of a user having inserted a large number of 10 cent coins and then, realizing that he does not have the total amount, inserting a coin or bill of high value. The recycling dispenser with vertical tubes does not allow coins of small value, for example 10 cents, to be stored. The coins are then stored directly in the cash box and the apparatus returns coins of low or medium value, such as 50 cents, for example. This is a nuisance to the operator, who is left with a large sum of money in numerous coins of small value, and has been deprived of coins of medium value for returning change.
Recycling dispensers with carrousels, of known type, allow coins of small value, 10 cents for example, to be stored. However, this possibility is provided at the expense of much complexity and increased size, since it is necessary to add an extra carrousel to those which exist and are each intended to receive a different coin.
Moreover, and apart from the problems mentioned above, dispensers are subject to particular specifications, especially as to operating schedule. It is desirable for the number of coins which can be stored to be relatively large, in order to allow return of change to the user under better conditions and without having recourse to frequent and thus costly re-stocking, and in order to avoid user dissatisfaction and/or financial loss for the operator because of the lack of use resulting with an apparatus which cannot return change.
It is also important that the persons charged with maintenance or repairs shall be able to gain access to the mechanism, without having to dismantle the dispenser completely, which would increase the resultant labor costs of such maintenance and/or repair operations. Furthermore, users are generally sensitive to the speed of operation of an apparatus and waiting time should be reduced to a minimum. For the reasons given above, it is equally necessary for the dispenser to be able to give change over the maximum range of coins. Likewise, the range of accepted coins should be as large as possible to satisfy the users. Finally, changes in tariffs, introduction of new products or services or the introduction of new coins, oblige manufacturers and operators to modify and/or adapt existing dispensers to allow them to operate under new conditions. This can lead to great difficulties in operating schedule when the amount of a transaction is such that it becomes necessary to increase capacity for return of change (for example a fare which is a few cents below or above a round sum, say $2.90 or $5.10).